# Josh Newman (politician)

Joshua Botts Newman (born October 17, 1964) is an American politician who served in the California State Senate from 2016 to 2018, then again from 2020 to 2024. A Democrat, he represented the 29th Senate District, which encompasses parts of Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties.
Newman was elected to the State Senate by a very narrow margin in November 2016, providing Democrats with a ⅔ supermajority of 27 seats. In June 2018, he was successfully recalled by the voters of the 29th Senate District, and replaced by his 2016 opponent, former Republican Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang. In November 2020, Newman once again defeated Chang to return to the State Senate. In 2024, Newman was defeated for reelection by former Assemblyman Steven Choi in an upset.
Prior to being elected to the State Senate, Newman was a veterans' advocate and executive director of a nonprofit for veterans.
Newman graduated from Yale University and served as an officer in the United States Army.

## Career
### 2016 election

In Newman's first election, he defeated former Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang in the primary, then narrowly defeated Republican state Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang to succeed term-limited Republican Bob Huff in the general election.

### 2018 recall

In June 2018, Newman was recalled from office, ostensibly for his affirmative vote on Senate Bill 1, which increased gas and diesel taxes and raised DMV registration fees in California. The recall effort was heavily pushed by influential radio personalities John and Ken. He was replaced by Republican Ling Ling Chang, whom he had defeated in the 2016 election.

### 2020 election

On March 4, 2019, Newman announced that he would be a candidate to return to the California State Senate in the 2020 elections.
He came in second in the primary election, defeating Democratic challenger Joseph Cho. In the general election, he won office with 51.3% of the vote to retake the seat from Chang.

### 2024 election

Following redistricting, Newman announced that he would run for the 37th Senate district, going up against fellow Democrat Dave Min. Later, Senator Min announced that he would not seek re-election to the State Senate and would instead run for California's 47th congressional district. In the general election, Min would win the congressional seat, but Newman would end up narrowly losing the Senate seat to Republican former Assemblyman Steven Choi.

## Personal life

Newman is Jewish. He is married and has one child.

## Election results
### 2020

2020 California State Senate election :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Ling Ling Chang (incumbent) | 98,687 | 47.4 |
| | Democratic | Josh Newman | 69,732 | 33.5 |
| | Democratic | Joseph Cho | 39,643 | 19.1 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 208,062 | 100.0 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Josh Newman | 214,456 | 51.3 |
| | Republican | Ling Ling Chang (incumbent) | 203,762 | 48.7 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 418,218 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |

### 2018 (Recall)

California's 29th State Senate district special recall election, 2018 :
| Choice | Votes | % |
| Yes | 91,892 | 58.13 |
| No | 66,197 | 41.87 |
| Total votes | 158,089 | 100.00 |
California's 29th State Senate district special recall election, 2018 Successor of Josh Newman if a majority vote in favor of recall :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Ling Ling Chang | 50,215 | 33.80 |
| | Democratic | Joseph Cho | 31,726 | 21.36 |
| | Republican | Bruce Whitaker | 28,704 | 19.32 |
| | Democratic | Josh Ferguson | 17,745 | 11.95 |
| | Democratic | Kevin Carr | 12,713 | 8.56 |
| | Republican | George C. Shen | 7,442 | 5.01 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 148,545 | 100.00 |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic |

### 2016

California's 29th State Senate district election, 2016 :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Ling Ling Chang | 73,514 | 44.0 |
| | Democratic | Josh Newman | 48,754 | 29.2 |
| | Democratic | Sukhee Kang | 44,766 | 26.8 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 167,034 | 100.0 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Josh Newman | 160,230 | 50.4 |
| | Republican | Ling Ling Chang | 157,732 | 49.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 317,962 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican | Democratic gain from Republican |